Totally off topic, but nevertheless important!!!!
Did anyone know that one of our first Montreal dessert landmarks, Calories….is closed?
My wife broke the news to me today. We have no idea when it happened, but one of my favourite dessert places is gone. Tragic!

The West Island site closed a few years back. Not surprised the Westmount site went under. My daughter applied to work there a couple of years ago and the “owner” set up two appointments for interviews and never showed for either. But I agree it was a gem of a late night dessert place.

Now if you want to go one better…Cafe Cherrier on St Denis. Late nights on the terrace with a cappuccino and anything chocolate…Sunday breakfasts with giant cafe au lait…

…similar out here Bri …My favourite late night dessert restaurant on Denman Street near English Bay, Death By Chocolate closed suddenly
…maybe the fluctuating price for cacao/chocolate, spoilage are high business costs that make their margins too thin to be stable as a business

Dude, it’s so simple. We start a real Montreal deli in Kits or on Robson. Just get a Schwartz’s franchise, plunk it down somewhere, convert hordes of pigeons from their sushi zombie-somnolence, and rake in the dough.

You scout a location, I’ll call Céline and get the ball rolling (we went to the same school in Charlemagne, so we’re tight).

Point number 4 is the one that concerns me most.
And that’s harder to evaluate.
I have a 19 year-old and granted, not all kids mature at the same level,
but I can tell you that, no matter how good a skater he is, with his disposition?….. there’s no way he’s mature enough to play with the big boys. But, like I said, they don’t all have the same maturity level.
Still, I think for this portion of his development, he should play another year of junior.

“It takes an incredibly confident young man”. You nailed it.
He’s only 18. Like I said earlier, everyone’s chomping at the bit to have him up here. Me too. But his proper development now will reap big time in a few years.

I just saw on The Score that the Sens waived Bobby Butler. I am not used to seeing players waived in the summer. What’s the point? I also thought he was one of their top prospects as little as 2 years ago.

That’s Hockey’s Who’s Better is a total joke. For under 25, the final 4 are Crosby, Hall, Eberle, and Karlson.
Can you guess which 3 don’t belong there?
Hint: They play for Canadian teams, and all followers of TSN are Canadians.

Man, that article is a howl! I know it’s a puff piece written by a Leaf fan, but as his introductory article, it’s prophetically awful. The guy is the Reverse Midas, everything he touches turns to sludge.

I love how his best, #1 reason to be a fan is the schadenfreude that the Blackhawks have gone even longer than the Leafs without a Cup. And then they promptly win one.

Good link Sean, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for this joker in the future. And I can safely intone that all of my blog posts will stand the test of time much better than this gasbag.

EDIT: This one is the best, love the exclamation point at the end:

6. Mike Penney and the scouting staff: Often with no 1st-round picks to work with, Leafs scouts seem to be unveiling some hidden gems in drafts in recent years. Here are just a few examples: Stefanovich (4th rnd – ’08), Christopher DiDomenico (6th rnd – ’07), Viktor Stahlberg (6th rnd – ’06) and Anton Stralman (7th rnd – ’05). Never heard of some of them? You will!

i am starting to think Tim Thomas is racist , he never wanted a black president in office which is why he didn’t go to meet him with the rest of the team. And now adding to that, he may have had to play with a possible “black backup” in Malcom Subban……believe me, TT is as good as gone……….

So TT knew 2 months ago the Bruins were going to draft Subban? I’ve got to ask him for some good stock picks. I think TT and about 48% of Americans didn’t want a democtaric president regardles of him being black or white.

where did you get that TT never wanted a Black president? he has strong political views and at least he is convicted in his views enough to say something and do something about them.
Not that I agree with him or his actions at all, but its better to have convictions than to be someone who is just apathetic and has no conviction at all.
Whether we agree with him and his views / action or not, it doesn’t mean he is a racist.
Though I will agree that I believe he is done with the Bruins …and maybe even for good.

“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.”

I think all of us has it within ourselves to turn our lives around, no matter how set we are in our ways. I proved that today and I believe the experience is worth sharing. Critics of Gomez take note.
I started out the morning, get this, by putting my pants on – with my RIGHT leg first! I never do that but I decided to shake things up.
Same with the socks, RIGHT foot first – and AFTER I had put my pants on! Unheard of!
Next was the underwear, which, to be honest, wasn’t part of the grand redesign – they were supposed to go on first, after all – but so quick was the metamorphosis taking place that I didn’t get flustered when I realized my mistake. I regrouped and redressed.
By now I was the centre of calm in a hurricane of change, and the changes kept a-comin’.
Ate my cereal using my LEFT hand! Brushed my teeth SIDEWAYS! Parted my hair on the OPPOSITE side!
It was a new me and I was liking what I saw in the mirror even though I hardly recognized myself. It was like Mr. Jekyll had become Mr. Terrific, all because of a few departures from the norm.
I didn’t stop there. On the way to work, I made left-hand turns while signaling right. Turned the air conditioning on high blast and lowered the windows. Listened to the sports shows without yelling once.
It was incredibly transformative!
So big deal, you say – you glass half-empty guys kill me! – what’s all this got to do with anything, especially with Gomez?
Well, let me tell you what happened at work: productivity shot up! I made fewer mistakes, met most of my deadlines, didn’t trigger a single customer complaint — and only one co-worker got injured!
The boss was impressed and said take my time getting his latte. I even detected a hint of a smile when he said it.
So there you have it, me, Joe Nobody, turning his life around by making a few simple changes in routine. With more to come (tomorrow I’m shifting the toilet paper around so it pulls off topside!).
Anybody can become a new person without surgery if you put your mind to it.
It’s like tossing a pebble in the ocean and the ripple becoming a tsunami by the time it reaches the other side.
I’ve emailed my story to Gomez to get him started. He hasn’t replied with anything nasty – you won’t believe how many NHL people can be so rude – which tells me he’s taken my message to heart.
So don’t be surprised if No. 11 plays like a 10 next season. You have the inside scoop.

—————————————————————-
“In the Soviet Union, capitalism triumphed over communism. In this country, capitalism triumphed over democracy.” — Fran Lebowitz
[A nod to Tim Thomas for turning a slow hockey day into a politically charged one]

Nobody said “crime” but you. But I think that there are two potential issues with the TT post, for those who are genuinely put off by the perception of the ‘PC Police’ ragging on TT.

First, it’s kind of a gray area, but usually it’s bad form for athletes to go super-political, especially when it comes to “religious politics” (for lack of a better word). No problems with them holding whatever beliefs, but using one’s status (or public Facebook page) as a pulpit is not well-liked.

Second, towards the Chick-fil-a stance, being in favour of traditional marrige isn’t the Big Deal. Rather, it’s using a company to lobby for laws that will make other forms of marriage illegal. What you do with your business and in your church is up to you, but trying to control with legislation what other people do in their homes and bedrooms is overstepping the bounds of reasonable-ness.

The combination of these two issues is what’s going to make a lot of people sigh resignedly and roll their eyes at TT.

Crime might have been a little over the top however where ever you read that Chick-fil-a is or was lobbying to change marriage laws please post the website or where you read/heard of that. Their founder was asked a question and answered it. Yes with pro athletes it maybe a Grey Area but then should it not also be associated with movie actors who the majority seem to be left leaning and the garbage they spout before jumping into their private jets is never challanged. BTW I’m not a TT fan or defending his views, however whatever he says or does seems to end up on this site seconds after they are said or posted.
Regardless nice post.

So if the current democratic president was white and TT did not go to the White House because he does not like the direction the States is going what would he be then?
Ross’s reply was much better and made sense. Is TT a racist because he belongs to the Tea Party in your eyes. Please ellobrate where TT (I don’t even like him) has ever said a bigoted thing.

Its bigotted to believe that gay people do not deserve to be treated the same as straight people and do not have the right to be married by the STATE because your religion says its wrong.

Its bigotted to believe that all people in the country should have to live by laws that are based in your religion when the majority of the country subscribes to another religion or none at all.

Its hypocritical to take one line in the bible that can be construed as anti-gay and use it to justify the stance that this is what god wants… ignoring numerous other messages in the same book related to tolerance, and respect, and even love for your neighbours.

I love how so many of the more vocal ‘Christians’ are actually angry Old Testament tyrants. Jesus Christ apparently said in that book that he apparently wrote that you should love your neighbour, and that you shouldn’t cast stones unless you haven’t sinned before yourself. He seems like a kind of cool hippie dude, but so many who preach his words are more condemnatory than the Reverend Lovejoy’s wife.

The hypocrisy of the leaders of the religion are why I say, “I was raised a Catholic” not that I am a Catholic.

I can’t reconcile the positions of the church leaders on this issue with all I was taught about tolerance, fairness, forgiveness, equality and love for your fellow man. I just can’t reconcile the two, and I refuse to follow the leaders who are hypocrites about their own teachings.

I still believe in God and Jesus but I can’t live by the tenets of the catholic church that are inconsistent with the teachings I hold dear.

I haven’t looked at the list in detail, so the numbers there might be off, but there doesn’t seem to be any doubt that *some* donations have gone to organizations that actively lobby against gay marriage and/or making gay marriage illegal.

I agree it’s a bit of a double standard between movie stars and athletes, but it does sort of seem to be that way. I’ll listen to (and then laugh at while I disregard) whatever a Holywood star has to say, but coming from Tim Thomas (or Carey Price), it just seems “gauche” somehow.

I’m more of a light hearted kind of person, I like to joke around, and normally don’t get into debates or what not about religion. but I must point out that saying “all the Christians” are tyrants is kind of offensive… And really in its own way is kind of the same thing as people throwing out any of the negative and hurtful stereotypes about any race religion or belief.

You’re right in pointing out that a lot of these religious, legalistic, and rule oriented people who claim to be Christian that occupy the churches are tyrants. They are twisting something that is supposed to be an individual faith and morality, into a prison system used to condemn others into doing whatever the person in charge says is “right”. And that is the exact reason I left the Organisation that is known as the “Christian Church” when I was old enough to see the hypocrisy with in a lot of their actions

But while I left the Church behind, I still know that there are plenty of Christians who know the truth behind the spirituality and they do believe it’s about love and understanding and acceptance as you pointed out. They know it’s not about judgement and condemnation… Those who use it for Judgement and hatred are not Christians at all, but rather the wolves in sheep’s clothing.
So yes I’ll join you in ragging on those Religious assholes who are just trying to Eff everything up. But let’s not condemn an entire faith because half of its followers are misled by … well … Assholes

“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.”

ROZZ, you’re right, I hastily tossed off a glib denunciation of the right wing-Moral Majority crowd, and unfairly tarred every practicing Christian with my broad brush. I edited my post after reading your response. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Wow some interesting posts while I was gone. Firstly I go to church once a year ( Christmas), don’t take specific quotes from the bible and am very happy living in a Christian country not under Sharia Law in some Islamic state. But no, some lively debate is allways fun espically when there is no name calling is involved of specific posters.
So good night all.
Had to do it Ross and (shudder) go to Huffington Post and looked a a list posted there where Chick’s gave money to and did not see any “Lobbying Groups” (Fellowship of Christian Athlete’s?). All seemed to be Christian Religious groups which probably don’t support gay causes (and 2 Mil over 7 years does not buy much lobbying in Washington) but it’s there money, they can do with it as they please and hey since they’re not getting any Gov’t assistance, if you don’t like them then don’t eat there.

A Wayne Gretzky sighting in Seattle drums up the possibility of an NHL team in the city in the near future.

I’m all for it. Road trips to Seattle to catch a football and a hockey game would be awesome. It would mean more hockey on TV for us here in the Vancouver region, and a natural rival for the Canucks and a team that is a short travel distance away, which they desperately need more of.

I guess some people use it as a way to denote someone who commits the sin of pride, but then there’s the airhead Selena Williams who toots her own horn and describes herself as a “very prideful” person, instead of using the plain old correct ‘proud’.

And maybe just maybe she should describe herself as a humble person, and stop trying to be a fashionista and designer, because it ain’t working, and stop appearing in bikinis in magazines, and cut down on the cosmetic surgeries disguised as “I disappeared from public view for months to have surgery because I cut my foot while walking on broken glass.”

It is actually not antiquated by dictionary definition (OED) but it has a very narrow usage which is obviously to sermonize. I would think your assessment of S.William’s misusage is correct. She means proud.

Carolina signs Semin.
Rutherford is doing everything as a GM to improve his team, Carolina.
habs still stuck with an inexperienced GM , afraid to be aggressive.
habs will suck again in 15th place as a result!

7 millions for one year is still a lot of money for an ify player but it`s a good bet since it is for only one season. Shows that nobody really trusts the guy.

Not sure if he would have made a good fit in MTL. Bergevin said he would take a long hard look at what he`s got. That says it all. Personnaly i never believed that he would make major moves until at least half season.

I would be upset as a HABS fan if UFA defensemen like St Louis Kent Huskins.. and I say like cause there are several others, are all signed and Bergevin (HABS) hasnt managed to fill that gaping need, for a BIG reliable d-man.

I hear you trini. I don’t know Kent Huskins well, but I still pine for Shane O’Brien, a guy I saw play for the Canucks and would have been good for what ails us. If we’d signed him on the cheap last year and re-upped him this year with a raise but at a still very reasonable cost, we would have had our third pairing defenceman who can clear the crease and reduce the abuse on Carey. Our team toughness profile would be complete with him on the blue line, and the forwards now on the roster, we could confidently take on all comers.

Some will say we wouldn’t have a ‘true heavyweight’, but it’s been shown by the Georges Laraque experiment that that’s not necessarily the way to go. If we don’t have a heavyweight, probably then the opponent’s heavyweight like John Scott doesn’t dress against us, so we don’t really need one of those guys.

I agree! Leblanc is ready to play in the NHL if he has packed on some muscle over the summer. He will be a great third line center and maybe a top 6 center based on what I’ve seen of him so far. I hope he can steal a spot in camp because I think he is the type of player that will develop more over time with the big club.

He basically has not developed much since drafted would be the short version. He will play this season in Yaroslavl for the team that lost all their players last year in that plane crash;http://habsprospects.hockeyhq.net/trunev.html

I’m sure you guys all know of the Down Goes Brown blog, which is quite hilarious, and if you don’t you should Google it.

But how many of you knew that the name comes from an announcer’s call of a fight between 49 goal-scorer (when playing on the wing with Mario Lemieux) Rob Brown and our very own Sylvain Lefebvre, who is the new coach of the Bulldogs? I didn’t. I always thought it must have been from a fight of the blogger’s man-crush Wendell Clark.

Anyway, kind of cool that the ‘Dogs coach has that kind of YouTube rep, he can rest on his laurels and tell the little pukes to do as he does, and if not there’ll be trouble.

If you follow the link below, it takes you to a blogpost that has video of an interview with Rob Brown, who seems like a good guy, and is game to talk about his being knocked out. He also says straight out that the fight happened because Pat Burns, who was coaching the Leafs at the time, and had coached Sylvain Lefebvre with the Canadiens and asked the Leafs to trade for him, yelled at him to ‘get’ Brown. Good stuff.

I heard Brian Wilde on 990 today and he made a great point in talking about last years team. He basically said that we were a one line team (which is true) we had no 3rd or 4th and the second line was a mess mostly due to the Gio injury. He then went on to say that opposition teams loved playing the hab’s because all they had to do is shut down the top line. Wilde went on to say the first line playing in those horrible circumstances still managed to produce and produce at a first line level. Now picture what that line could accomplish if they were not the center of attention of the opposition. Playing on a team with some functional lines.
A little food for thought.

well everyone loved playing the habs because:
1. the chances of montreal winning in regulation were super low, so there was a huge probability their opponent would get at least one point.
2. once they fell behind, montreal gave up
2. montreal did not hit or fight or intimidate or play chippy
4. half montreal’s defense was inexperienced and belonged in the AHL
5. contrary to brian wilde, opponents didn’t have to shut down the first line, because there was no secondary scoring, the proof is that the first line was not shut down and the team was a disaster. Wilde has it backwards. As the team improves, the top line will score fewer goals not more goals.

2. Montréal never gave up last year. They didn’t have the horses to mount comebacks in most cases, and at the very end they kind of tapered off, but I was really happy with the fact that three-quarters of the way into the season they were still scratching and clawing to get wins. If you think back, we’d moan that we would lose game in OT and get the draft-position wrecking ‘loser point’.

Someone smarter than me brought up the fact that the Penalty Kill teams still clicked late into the season, even after Hal Gill was traded, and that was a good indication that the team was still trying, because that aspect of the game is all effort.

It’s okay to be a realist, you can even be a pessimist, but it’s wrong to say the Canadiens gave up. Even after management threw in the towel and traded away players at the deadline, the team still played to win.

5. Don’t really understand this point, unless you mean they’ll score a lower percentage of the team’s total goals. If the Canadiens get more scoring out of their other lines, and if they have legitimate NHL’ers on the third and fourth lines, then the opposing defences won’t be able to key in on the Desharnais line, and that should mean more goals from them.

when there is more talent, other players have a better chance of getting hot and getting more ice time that would have gone to the first line. the first line will get less ice time as the secondary scoring improves. fourth lines rarely score. it is all about the second line.

fair point, let me rephrase it. montreal won only four of 24 games that they trailed after one period and only 1 of 31 games they trailed after the second period. their .038 winning percentage when down after two periods compares to a .226 winning percentage for boston.

Does anyone think MB is done? or can we expect a move for the top six and maybe a gritty D man. I keep hearing talk of Doan, which would be ok in my books. I cant see him leaving the yotes. Any one hear anything other than the same old rumors that have been floating around.

I’ve never bought the argument that you can ruin a player’s confidence by bringing him up too soon.

The only 2 arguments IMO against bringing a guy up too soon are the injury factor and the ice time factor. If a player is not physically mature enough for the pro game, and he is going to get hurt, this can be damaging to his career. If a player is playing on the fourth line or in the pressbox instead of getting proper minutes (and not a 1 or 2 game stint either, I’m talking serious bench time), then yes you can stunt development. But I dont’ buy the confidence thing.

In any young player’s career, whether they are 18, 20, or 22 when they reach the NHL there will be highs and lows. There will be good points and bad points. How a player deals with the lows is a test of his character.

If an 18 year old struggles in the NHL, is then sent to Junior or the AHL, and eventually comes back strong, ala Max Pacioretty or Carey Price. Their development was not mishandled. Yes they struggled, but at 20 years old these two players learned valuable lessons, and persevered despite adversity. This shows their true character, and I think it may even make them a better player going forward.

If an 18 year old struggles, and never regains his past form. If he busts out because he just couldn’t handle the pressure and the low points of the NHL. That exposes a character flaw to me. Its a flaw that will always be present and is just waiting to be exposed. Sure at 21 he might be a better player, but no matter what, every rookie and sophmore will go through struggles at some point. Will go through a scoring drought, or will make a key giveaway that loses a game. If a player has a character flaw that doesn’t allow him to recover from that as an 18/19/20 year old, its not going away at age 22 or 23 or 24, or however long you wait. Its just something that will eventually be exposed later in their career.

So I’m not worried about sheltering a player’s confidence. These are high performance athletes, and they wouldn’t reach the NHL if they grew up without self-confidence and the ability to overcome adversity.

Its all about whether they are physically mature enough to handle the physicality of the pro game, and whether they can produce enough to get quality minutes. If a rookie earns a top 9 spot, let him play, because there is plenty to learn at 15 minutes per game in the best league in the world.

But its all about whether they can handle it.

Again, I think its doubtful that Galchenyuk can, given the knee injury. But I’m not closing the door completely. In the unlikely event he shows up in camp and looks like an NHLer, you gotta let him play.

You are just forgetting one minor detail . This is Montreal with all the medias and know it all that roam around the team and the players.
Sometimes it is not necessarly about the skills of the players but all about maturity. That`s why they hired Brisebois and Lapointe to make sure that those angles are covered . If you play in Columbus you have nothing to deal with other than play hockey. In Montreal it does not stop after you step off the ice, it starts there…

At 18, 19 years old with millions of dollars in front of you in a city that breathes hockey 24/7 you better be strong.

Examples of those not ready for prime time players come in dozens in Montreal. And there is no need to deal with that before making it here ?

If he’s not ready, send him back down to the minors and bring him up when his confidence is restored. Or let him fight through the hard times. If he can’t do that the way PK, Patches, and Price have done, he wasn’t a strong enough person to begin with, and no amount of time will fix that.

You’ve either got it or you don’t. And sure, you might grow to be more ready for Montreal with time, but it helps to experience it first… know what you are in for… leave for Hamilton, and then come back to Montreal better prepared. Thats the real opportunity for growth.

However in players like Tinordi, Beaulieu, Galchenyuk, Bozon, Gallagher, I think we have kids who can handle Montreal. Remember when you are a minor hockey star, and your dad is a famous hockey player or coach with a big time club, you face pressure every time you step on the ice. Its inevitable, and any kid who survives that is one step ahead of the game in Montreal.

Galchenyuk comes up with the Habs ONLY IF he” blows the doors ” off during training camp. He is going to have to be head and shoulder better than somebody presently on the roster, otherwise, he goes back to JR.
Would you start him in Hamilton if he impressed or outright send him to JR?

i think you are in the right ballpark in terms of what it would take should there be a bidding war. jeff carter is a comparable player and he went for jack johnson and a first round pick and for Voracek, a first and a third. Eller + first +possibly a prospect, with the pick conditional on signing him to a longer contract.

One thing to consider when figuring whether Alex Galchenyuk can play with the Canadiens next season instead of being sent back down to junior is the very clear statement by Rick Dudley during a radio interview that for him or any player to make the team on his draft year, he has to clearly, decisively win the roster spot outright. In Mr. Dudley’s words, he has to force the team to keep him. Couple that with Marc Bergevin’s statement that a team never regrets leaving a player in the minors too long, but often regrets bringing one up too soon, and it kind of frames the discussion we’re having.

Another consideration is whether the team is very comfortable with the coaching and physio staff they have in Sarnia. What if he gets traded to a Memorial Cup contender and it’s an organization they really don’t have a good read on? Could it be that they may have more confidence if the crown jewel was in Montréal under the watchful eye of Michel Therrien and Dr. Mulder and his support staff?

I’ve floated the idea of easing him into the lineup like the Bruins did with Tyler Séguin, putting him on left wing for a season, but the trial balloon didn’t last very long. I’m not married to the idea, wouldn’t like the kid to be exposed to the shrieks of the media and fans if he was a healthy scratch for a couple of games for example, as Mr. Séguin was, ultimately to his benefit.

So does he progress more in Montréal surrounded by pros with lots of coaching and training staff support, being given achievable assignments and playing third-line minutes on the wing against topflight NHL competition, or in Junior where he’s the #1 centre Top Banana who gets the most minutes and plays the powerplay and kills penalties and takes key faceoffs against softer competition? And in junior, does he get playoff exposure and possible Memorial Cup experience and World Junior experience that he can’t duplicate being babied into the NHL, especially if next season is deemed a development year by the Canadiens and they don’t mind missing the playoffs too much?

In the last ten years, no prospect in the top three picks has ever made the jump to the NHL with only one year of junior experience. Some of them had three. Seguin had two which makes him a poor comparison.

As well, no junior in the same time period has made the direct jump to the NHL after sitting out a year of development due to a serious injury.

After a much needed clean start, why would the new Hab management team want to take such a gamble? A gamble that involves arguably our 4th best, long-term asset.

The idea of rushing a kid because there “might” be issues with a junior team and it’s medical staff is bizarre to me. It’s a total stretch.

I don’t get any of this line of thinking (even though Normand and I seem to be saying many of the same things).

I checked evry player that was drafted in the top three over the past ten years. All of them, including Malkin in Russia, had at least two eyars of junior before playing in the NHL. It doesn’t matter if the 2nd year was before or after their draft year. They still didn’t make the jump.

As for stating Galchenyuk would have two years if he wasn’t hurt, that proves my point exactly. The fact of the matter is he was hurt, he missed an entire year of development and would be making a jump to the pros that players like Staal, Horton, Malkin, Ryan, Staal, Toews, van Riemsdyk, Turris, Duchene, Nugent-Hopkins, Landdeskog and Huberdeau were unable to do. That’s not a bad sample size.

This is taking on the makings of a swordfight which is something I never participate in on this site.

I guess I’m just not willing to chance something that players who were of equal talent level as Glachenyuk never had to attempt (or weren’t asked to attempt). BTW, you were right about Bergeron. He only played one junior of Quebec junior. I only checked the players who were at the top of each draft year.

Is he confusing you? Because I think Norm prefers seeing him play in Sarnia, or wherever he might be traded, as opposed to bringing him up.
We’re all on the same wavelength, I think….
Norm is trying to give the impression that he’s undecided and straddling the fence, but I can see him tilting over.

The medical angle is a thought that occurred to me when reviewing video of Trevor Timmins going over the draftees in June. On a few occasions he mentions that one or another is on a great organization with lots of support, so the player can develop. It triggered me to wonder how do the Canadiens feel about the Sarnia organization, and the chance that Alex gets traded to another team that’s a contender for the playoffs and Memorial Cup. You call it a stretch, fair enough, it’s a question I have that I’m putting out there.

Your point about him making the jump to the NHL with only one year of junior is well taken. I think you can deduce from the first and fourth paragraph of my post that I’m not a proponent of rushing the kid either.

True enough. Now do you or anyone have a comment regarding this Steve Simmons quote:

“The Sarnia Sting produced the first and third picks in the NHL Draft in Nail Yakupov and Alex Galchenyuk yet all I’m hearing this summer is how just about everyone who plays for coach Jacques Beaulieu wants out of there.”

I think it’s unfortunate the Habs never seem to get the sort of deal Carolina just got with Semin. I mean, we have plenty of cap space, and it’s only a 1 year deal. If Semin turns out to be garbage, you don’t resign him. If he turns out to have some new found desire, you have the inside track on getting him on a longer deal.

Any guy that has 40, 38, 34, goal seasons under their belt is worth that gamble in my opinion.

Lots of people are excited about the opportunity to give a nearly 36 year old Shane Doan that kind of money for a ridiculously long time.

Lots of people are chomping at the bit to trade half the team and prospects for the 57 point scorer Bobby Ryan.

There is little downside to a 1 year deal for Semin. They gave up nothing to get him. They created no roadblocks for the future. Yes it is too much money, but if they have cap room what is the big deal?

IF Galchenyuk makes the team, who does he replace? He’s not going to be a 4th line centre. MB would have to do some shuffling, unless there’s an injury (and no, they’re not going to move Eller to the wing to accomodate him)

Trade DD and Pleks, and keep Gomez. Eller to center second line and Galchenyuk in the third. Problem solved…just need to spend on riot police though until the hockey season starts cause I’ll take part in riots too. 😀

How about we play him on the third line left wing for a season, alongside Lars Eller and a trusty veteran like Travis Moen, or Colby Armstrong? We have a hole on left wing, and the Bruins did well by playing Tyler Séguin on the wing his first season, ease him into the lineup with fewer responsibilities.

On Galchenyuk, if he was almost any other prospect, coming off a serious knee injury I’d say he was for sure starting with Sarnia to make up the lost development time.

In fact I still think Sarnia is the most likely destination.

But one of the things that makes this kid so special, and why I liked him so much, is his dedication and gym rat/rink rat mentality that is so far over and above other players. There is an outside shot that he trains so much, and so hard, that he is ready for the NHL when the season starts and its just impossible to send him to Sarnia. Not likely, but if any of this year’s prospects could come back from such a knee injury and still make the NHL at 18, its him.

It’s not a question of will he be able to play, but rather why would the team want him to play in the NHL this year?

For discussion sake, let’s assume that his knee is 100%.

He basically didn’t play hockey last year. He only has one year of junior experience. This kid is still raw, just the way MaxPac and Leblanc were. The team still has Gomez on the roster. If Galchenyuk makes the team it would mean that one of the other three centres goes to the wing. Is that a good idea right now? It also means the Habs eat up a year of RFA on his contract when there’s no incentive to do so. Instead of playing a ton of hockey where he stars at the junior level, he will get limited minutes playing with a kickass coach in an environment that may be less than positive in light of a last place finish as well as a labour dispute hangover.

Training in a gym is admirable. However, this guy will still be a boy among men come October. I’m sure he’ll good great in camp but then again they all do. Reality doesn’t kick in until around Nov 1st.

Right now, it would appear than only Yakupov and Murray should start the year off in the NHL. And I’m not sure that it’s even a good idea for Murray.

I agree with you Steve.
To be honest, I really don’t know much about this kid, but from everyone’s links and media, there’s no question that this kid will be something. But the logical approach is sending him back to junior, and challenge himself there before, as you say, he plays with the men.

15 minutes of ice time in the NHL is more valuable to learning than 25 minutes in the OHL.

If he’s ready (and thats a big if) and he proves to be capable of handling those minutes, I keep him on the big club.

Like I said, its likely he goes to Sarnia… but if he comes to Training camp and blows the coaches away, he has to get his 9 games. If he produces in those 9 games, he has to get his 40 games. If he continues to produce, he stays up all season.

Its all about performance, and if he’s putting up offensive numbers and palying good minutes, you don’t send him down IMO. If he’s not producing and not capable of playing those minutes, send him down.

Take the same approach with him, as we saw Boston take with Seguin, and it worked wonders for him. Even if Gally plays some time at wing, thats fine for an 18 year old. As long as he’s somewhat productive… say a 35-40 point pace.

Sorry Ben. Most times, you know I respect your perspective and viewpoint, but on this one, I’m siding with 24.
Even if he might be prepping himself at a higher level than any other junior, he’s still only 18. He’s never played at this level, and I agree that what is considered a gradual conditioning at the junior level will help him develop better.
That extra 10-12 minutes/game is substantial.
Perhaps he can be brought up for a few games to gauge his progress during the year.
We’re all chomping at the bit for that big C, but I think we’ll be sacrificing another year.

Since injuries are inevitable (you can’t go a full season with only 7 Defencemen), one of them will get a shot as an injury fill in. It will be the player playing the best at that point in time.

I’m gonna go off the board and guess it will be Morgan Ellis, and H I/O will go crazy that Tinordi and Beaulieu aren’t progressing as expected.

I actually expect Tinordi to struggle for at least 1/2 a season as he adjusts to the AHL game. I think Beaulieu needs more work defensively than Ellis (though Beaulieu’s offense is better and even his defensive upside is higher). But Ellis will be ready to be an NHL fill-in the quickest of the three.

I figure Weber will not be a Hab when the season starts so that makes St. Denis 8th.

If the injury is early in the season, first callup St. Denis’ spot to lose. If its later in the year, Ellis, Beaulieu or Tinordi might surpass him depending on how quick their development is. (and it really could be any of the three…. the other post is more a fantasy prediction than anything).

After half a season in the AHL, the most NHL-ready defenceman among the prospects will be Beaulieu.

Ellis and Tinordi will struggle with the speed and skill of pro players for one year. Pateryn and Bennet are wild cards.

Beaulieu has the most hockey smarts out of the bunch, and has a high and very well-rounded skill-set, offensively and defensively, and that’s why I would see him making it first. But I am biased, having seen him play a lot more than the others.

Timmons said at development camp that tinordi is closer to making the NHL then Beaulieau at this time. He said he could see Tinordi in the line up as early as the following season (’13-14).

So I kinda take his word on knowing a whole lot more then most of us on this board. Now when it comes to call ups, I think MTL has always been fair in calling up whoever has been deemed the best in the AHL at that time. St. Denis, I’d guess would be first call up. Lets not forget Nash has a few NHL games behind him too. But if Pateryn or Tinordi are deemed the best at the time of need, then I can see them being called up. I wonder tho if this management team will go with also “type of Dman”. So if a O type goes down, then the best O type gets called up. Or visa versa with a D type dman.

I really hope few get called up. wouldn’t it be nice to have an injury free D corp this season? Or a few very minor short injuries where our 7th dman can easily take over!!!!!!!